


Reaching Equilibrium

by mage_cat



Series: Mending Bridges [6]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Redemption, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24138841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mage_cat/pseuds/mage_cat
Summary: Adora and Catra have barely spoken since Catra joined the Rebellion. When that changes, other things will change quickly.Set after "Roses" and "One Bridge to Burn".
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Mending Bridges [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683547
Comments: 2
Kudos: 90





	Reaching Equilibrium

Adora walked up to Catra’s closed door. They had hardly exchanged a word since Catra had come to Bright Moon. Bow, Glimmer, and Scorpia had been conspiring to make sure the two of them are always needed as far away from each other as possible. When the Rebellion met in a group, they said the bare minimum to each other. Now, she needed to talk with her. There wasn’t any way this was going to go well.

She stuck her head inside. “Catra, you need to-”

Catra stood up from were she had been seated on the floor and cut her off. “You need to stop telling me what I need to do. I did not follow you here. I’m here for my own reasons. I am not your sidekick. I am not your subordinate officer. I am not even your rival. I am not your responsibility. With that said, what do you want from me?”

Adora scowled. “I want you to go meet your two goons from Crimson Waste. They’re at the gates, and they say they have information for you.”

Catra’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Caprine and Quada. Good. I honestly thought it would take them longer.”

At the sight of Adora’s continued scowl, she added, “They came to me, still calling me Boss and asking what they could do to help. It’s nothing nefarious. You’re welcome to come along and listen.”

After a moment to gather herself, she stepped out into the hallway, and they walked side-by-side for a long moment. They may not have been talking to each other, but they had been talking to just about everyone else _about_ each other. The weight of it all hung between them.

Catra broke the silence. “Sorry for snapping like that. I was in the middle of a meditation Perfuma’s been teaching me. It helps, but it seems that if I’m interrupted, I’m twice as cranky as I was when I started. I need to remember that I’m allowed to lock my door now. And try to stop letting my mind drift to verbose speeches I want to give.” She cursed the timing that put Adora’s face in front of her right as she had that diatribe on the tip of her tongue.

“Obviously you needed to get that off your chest.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard a similar speech from Glimmer already. “I hope you know I never meant to hurt you, but I am sorry I made you hate me so much.”

“I never hated you, Adora. It would have been so much easier if I had hated you. I hated the way the world shaped itself around you. It was just easier to fight you than the world. Though I guess I did try to make the world pay too. I got too many innocents wrapped up in that.” She turned her head to face her properly for the first time since they started walking. “There’s one thing I have to know though. That day in Thaymor. You were shocked at the idea that Shadow Weaver would lie to us. The things she would say about me...”

“I didn’t think she was lying.” Catra’s face fell until Adora continued, “I just thought she was wrong.” She turned to look Catra in the eye. “I always believed you would prove her wrong.”

They reached where two scruffy women--who probably would still give their profession as “bandit” if pressed--stood uncomfortably under the gaze of the guards.

The tall goat woman--Caprine--smiled in relief at the sight of Catra. Adora still wasn’t used to seeing people have that reaction to Catra. “Hey Boss, we found the information on the bounty you asked about.” She handed over a sheet of paper that had clearly seen better days. “It’s definitely for you. I can imagine two cat women out there the same name, but I can’t imagine the odds that both would fit the description.”

“Someone put a bounty out on you?” Adora asked.

“It’s a common way to get the word out about missing kids,” Catra answered, still reading the paper. “Double Trouble mentioned hearing rumors about an old one that was probably for me. I wanted confirmation.” She looked at Caprine and Quada. “And the others?”

The four-armed reptilian woman handed over a thick stack of papers as Caprine said, “Every one we could find.”

Catra gifted them with a wide smile. “Good work. Are you two hungry? I could show you to the kitchens.”

At their nods, Catra walked in the proper direction. Adora followed them, mostly because she was finding herself with more questions than answers so far.

Catra sorted through the papers in her hands as she walked and spoke for what could only have been Adora’s benefit. “Most of the forces Hordak assembled have scattered. Once we’ve taken care of Prime, I’m sure we’ll be hearing that the pirate crews and bandit gangs have a lot of very well-trained new blood. The cadets are another matter.” She looked up and a familiar teasing tone that made Adora’s heart ache entered her voice for a moment. “Did you forget that there were cadets younger than us?”

She went back to sorting the papers. “Scorpia and I have been trying to figure out what to do with them. If any still have families out there who want them back, that’s at least a few taken care of.” She held one sheet up for a closer look. “I can’t believe it. This one’s for Kyle.”

Catra opened a door and called out, “Hey, Bonny. I brought you people for you to feed. They’re from the Crimson Waste, so be careful not to feed them so much they get sick.” She turned to Caprine and Quada and gestured them to sit at an empty bit of table. “You think I’m joking, but I grew up on Horde ration bars, and the first time I came down here I gave myself a stomachache.”

A woman who must have been Bonny smiled at Catra. “I still say you’re too skinny.”

Catra smile was warm and easy and, to Adora’s experience, something that had once been for Adora alone. “I’ll be sure to bring you Perfuma next time she visits. She’s a twig.” She addressed the other two. “When you’re done, find the training grounds. I should be there by then, and we can talk about what you can do next.”

Back in the hallway, Adora considered the performance she just saw, awe-struck. “You visit the kitchens. You learned the cook’s name.”

Catra’s expression sobered. “When you joined the Rebellion, just being She-Ra earned you a lot of early goodwill. I’ve needed to put more effort into making a good impression.”

“Good thing you’re better at making the impression you want than I am.”

Catra gave her a sly smile. “You have your own charms.”

“Even if I don’t stop playing hero?”

“You’re a born hero. The tactics Shadow Weaver used on you wouldn’t have worked if you weren’t. Just try to remember that you’re not the only hero in this story.”

Another sheet caught her attention. She handed it to Adora. “Would you believe ‘Lonnie’ started as a nickname?”

The description certainly matched their old squad-mate as much as a description of a four-year-old could match the woman she had grown into, but the only name they had ever known her by was, in fact, listed under “Also answers to”. Adora stared at the official name given. “I’m pretty sure she would make anyone who insisted on calling her ‘Carlonna’ regret that decision.”

Catra huffed out a laugh. “Too right.”

She handed the paper back. “So, a clue to your family?”

Catra shook her head. “I can’t actually deal with it right now. There’s too much else going on. It’s just... something to think about for the future.”

Catra tried to keep her mind from racing. She came from a family that would bind a magical artifact to a child. She knew now that her mask was more than a simple piece of metal. She came from a family that would reward that child’s return with an amount three times higher than the next largest number she had seen in the stack of paper she held. Double Trouble had called it a princess’s ransom. Catra had too much on her plate to think through the implications.

When they reached her room, Adora hovered by the doorway while Catra placed the papers on her desk. A stack for descriptions that she recognized immediately as Fright Zone refugees. A stack for those she didn’t. Three older papers representing two humans and a lizard child who were no longer children but who she decidedly owed something to. Her own she shut away in one of the drawers.

She turned to Adora. “Join me at the training grounds to spar for old time’s sake?”

* * *

They walked in silence again, but the tension was beginning to leak out of it. When they reached the training grounds, Catra removed two staffs from a storage cabinet.

“First to three solid hits wins?” she said, tossing one to Adora.

“You’re on.”

“No holding back.”

Adora readied herself. She knew that once she landed a hit Catra would go down fairly easily. The trick was landing the hit in the first place. Catra had lost her share of sparring matches growing up, but she had never ended as anything but first in an agility trial.

Adora was stunned when she felt a solid blow across her back.

“First hit. My lead.”

“Since when can you hit that hard?” Adora’s voice was strained.

Catra smirked. “You’ve seen the way I’ve torn through bots. I told you, Adora. This is no holding back.”

Catra’s fighting style had always been tricky and evasive. Their trainers had always assumed that Catra--who had at one point been the smallest in their squad--didn’t hit hard because she couldn’t hit hard. Adora reevaluated as they entered a pattern of attack and parry. In battle, Catra had landed blows on She-Ra that had staggered her. She had, in fact, damaged bots in ways Adora had only been able to manage as She-Ra, but that, Adora was certain, had always involved her claws. Her blunt-force damage would never match her slashing damage. Still, even when she thought Catra had turned into her mortal enemy, Catra had been holding back.

Adora saw an opening and landed a hit to Catra’s gut, followed by one to her back as she doubled over. “First hit. Second hit. My lead.”

Catra smiled. “Better.”

Staff hit staff a few more times before Catra landed a blow to Adora’s legs that sent her sprawling. “Second hit. We’re even.”

Before Adora could stand, Catra was on top of her, making a wild overhand swing that Adora easily blocked, turning the fight into a shoving match.

Catra’s smile was ear-to-ear. “Do you want to see how I wish we could have been finishing these for years?”

“How?”

She ducked under their locked staffs and planted a kiss on Adora’s lips. Adora lost her grip on her weapon, and once Catra felt the resistance disappear, she dropped her own. “Third hit,” she said as she rose. “I win.”

“Catra you can’t just...”

Catra bent to pick up the staffs from the ground as Adora stood. “I know, kissing without permission is kind of out of line. I just couldn’t resist the dramatic moment.”

“Don’t you know what that’s supposed to mean?” Kissing wasn’t a thing discussed in the Horde. Everything either of them knew they picked up after they left.

“Yes.” Catra said as she walked back to the storage cabinet. “I can’t hate you. I’ve tried. I can’t be indifferent towards you. I’ve tried.” She replaced the staffs and closed the door. “The only option left is that I love you.” Adora tried and failed to remember the last time Catra’s eyes had had that shine to them. “I’ve loved you for a long time. There’s finally enough of me that’s not hurting that I can feel that properly. If you don’t feel the same, I’ll find a way to deal with that. I just thought you should know.”

Love. Hate. Indifference. Were those the only options? Adora couldn’t think of any others. She could only think of how much being without Catra had hurt. Her other friendships were wonderful, but no one matched what she felt with Catra. No one else could make her breath catch so unexpectedly. If those were the only options, the answer was obvious.

“Catra, I love you too.” Adora took Catra’s hand in hers. “Could we... try the kissing thing again?”

Catra was glad to oblige.


End file.
